How Can Home Buyers Soften Evictions?

Julie Look

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, January 26, 2000

I always thought buying a house would feel unquestionably positive. Getting that mortgage would mean I could paint any room whatever color I wanted, have pets, visitors and roommates at will, and not worry about the rent going up or some landlady moving her brother in and me out.

But in the Bay Area, buying a house may also entail something far less pleasant: evicting a fellow renter.

I didn't fully realize this until a friend took me on an exploratory round of open houses. Snooping around other people's homes is a guilty pleasure that can be awkward if the owner is hanging around to make sure you don't steal the piano. But when you notice the sheet of vital stats says the house is tenant-occupied, and then you find the tenant herself in the kitchen making lunch for her daughter, it's downright weird.

I've written about her situation, I thought. And I could be that woman -- I too rent a single-family home. It's ironic in the extreme that, to live in my own home, I might have to evict someone else. Just thinking about it makes me reach for the Mylanta.

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The Bay Area housing market is full of situations like this -- former renter pitted against current renter as we scramble for economic footing and roofs over our heads.

Buyers are all looking for that rare vacant home. But it's possible that dream home is empty because the previous owner evicted the tenants before it went on the market. Perhaps it would be better to do the evicting myself, because then I could at least make it as painless as possible. But how?

And round and round.

I'd like to hear from you. Have you had to evict someone to move into your new home? Have you been the one evicted? How did you handle it? Is there ever a good way to evict someone in this situation? Please send your stories, suggestions or questions to me via e-mail or snail mail at the addresses below.

I'm always interested in hearing about other issues, too. Here's a letter from a San Francisco reader with extremely noisy neighbors.

Q: I live in a two-room in-law apartment built into the rear of a garage of a single-family home. My problem is my upstairs neighbors.

Since they moved in, there have been horrible noise problems: music, things being dropped, very loud footsteps, running around, long and violent arguments. Twice light bulbs in my apartment have broken due to the vibration of their movements. Sometimes to sleep I need double ear protection -- foam earplugs and big headset mufflers.

Access to my apartment is through the garage. There have been repeated problems with the path being blocked by their things. They have broken glass in the garage and not cleaned it; if I don't take the garbage out, it just sits in the garage and rots.

I really don't know what to do. I have complained to my landlord, and he swears he will get rid of them. But they have been there five years, and I know protection for tenants in San Francisco is strict. Any suggestions would be welcome.

A: From the additional correspondence you sent me, it looks like you've done all the right things so far: You've talked to your upstairs neighbors about your concerns, and, when that didn't work, informed your landlord in writing.

The next step is to turn up the heat. "The landlord has to be shocked into taking more drastic action," says Stephen Adair MacDonald, a real estate lawyer who represents landlords and tenants.

That shock could be less rent. In San Francisco, MacDonald recommended filing a petition with the city's rent board for rent reduction due to a decrease in services, which can be things like heat, a parking space or reasonable peace.

"The landlord has a duty to provide 'quiet enjoyment,' '' MacDonald says. If you can prove your case, the hearing officer could reduce your rent, even retroactively. Less rent may not help you sleep, but it may jar your landlord into taking action, whether it's getting your upstairs neighbors to keep the noise down or installing better insulation and thicker carpet.

Cities with rent control, such as San Francisco, usually have a board or commission that conducts hearings or provides mediation. In cities that don't have rent control -- like most in the Bay Area -- renters need to consult a lawyer or local tenants rights group instead for advice.

It's tough to prove such nuisance noise when it's one against one. You could ask visitors to help you document the excessive noise level. Take pictures of mess and blockages in the garage. And ask the people in the homes on either side of your building whether they've ever had problems of any kind with your upstairs neighbors. If they have, ask whether they would be willing to support you. Such documentation of additional complaints, preferably in writing and with names attached, will bolster your case.

You may fear retaliation. If the upstairs tenants get nasty and call the city building inspector, your unit may be found to be illegal (most in-laws are, MacDonald says). If that happens, the landlord will have to bring it up to legal standards or take it off the rental market, leaving you out in the cold.